I have an old therapy intervention I have used for years which I…
“I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself” -Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao…
In the first half of this blog, we talked about boundaries and how our experiences and personalities (including genetics) affect the way we see and set boundaries. We also talked about visualizing the boundaries you want in your life. For example, maybe you want to set the boundary with your boss that you will stay late on days your son does not have practice, but on Tuesdays you want to be able to leave in time to get him to practice and watch him there as this is important to you. Or maybe you want to set the boundary with your son that if he keeps losing his water bottle, he is going to have to buy a new one versus you continually replacing it. Consider what boundaries you would like to set.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is consistently used in my personal therapeutic approach. It helps teach clients to challenge their thoughts and beliefs. Put them on trial, see if they hold up, are they rational or irrational? Imagery can be used to extend this intervention, to create new images to accompany these thoughts, images that reflect the rational versus irrational, new adaptive helpful images. Imagery can be used in treatment of many different mental health diagnoses, including, but not limited to, depression, mania, anxiety, trauma, and phobias.
The book, Set Boundaries, Find Peace: a guide to reclaiming yourself, by Nedra Glover Tawwab, has been gaining popularity for several years now. In it, the author talks about how to set boundaries to find peace and gives concrete examples of ways to do so in various life settings—work, family and friendships to name a few.
When someone engages in disordered eating habits, they may eventually find themselves in therapy to work through their habits. The body the brain and mental health overall suffer from disordered eating. Disordered eating describes patterns of restrictive eating, compulsive eating, irregular or inflexible eating patterns: fasting or binge eating falls in this category. Disordered eating is used to describe certain behaviors that may not meet the clinical diagnosis for an eating disorder. Signs of disordered eating patterns are dieting, compulsive eating, exercise and compensatory behaviors, body dissatisfaction, and food preoccupation. Disordered eating behaviors can have a negative impact on an individual's physical health, emotional well-being and overall quality of life. Even if someone may not meet the full criteria for a specific eating disorder, it doesn't dismiss them from needing help or needing to be taken seriously. Early intervention and support are key proponents of preventing these behaviors from escalating or evolving into more serious conditions.
